Hempstead Town Notebook: New Assistant Director at Animal Shelter, Tax Options

Animal Shelter Hires New Assistant Director

Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray and members of the town board have announced the hiring of Cynthia Iacopella as the new assistant director of the Hempstead Town Animal Shelter.

Iacopella was selected after an extensive nationwide search that was conducted by a committee of key Hempstead Town administrators, including Councilwoman Dorothy Goosby. She joins Hempstead Town with more than 10 years of management experience at non-profit animal shelters, where she trained staff members and successfully developed and implemented new policies.

She will serve as the Hempstead Town Animal Shelter's assistant director, while she completes the final three credits required for her bachelor's degree in Physical Anthropology from the University of California-Santa Barbara.

Once Iacopella attains her bachelor's degree, a requirement for the director's position, the town fully intends on appointing her director of the animal shelter.

Iacopella earned an associate's degree in Wildlife Science and Education from Moorpark College and an associate's degree in liberal arts from Nassau Community College. She began her professional career in Southern California, working various positions at zoos and wildlife rehabilitation centers until she returned to New York to work for the city's Animal Care and Control.

The town's animal shelter received a black eye earlier this year after a nearly 20-year-old video was posted on YouTube that depicts Town of Hempstead Animal Shelter employees making obscene gestures, handling a kitten and saying "kill the kitty."

Receiver of Taxes Prepares for Second Half Tax Collection

With the deadline for paying the second half of 2011 general tax approaching, Hempstead Town Receiver of Taxes Don Clavin is reminding taxpayers of the payment options offered by his office including extended hours, satellite offices, mobile tax office, drive through payment window and online payments.

Payments for the second half of 2011 general taxes received or postmarked by the Aug. 10 deadline will be penalty-free.

The E-Z Pay Drive Thru Payment Window is located behind the tax office at 200 North Franklin Street in Hempstead. The payment window will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., business days, Aug. 1-10, and accepts checks and money order payments only. Taxpayers are reminded to bring their entire current tax bill with stub intact in order to receive an official receipt at time of payment.

During peak collection times, hours of operation at the main tax office, located at 200 North Franklin Street in Hempstead, will be 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Aug. 1-5 and 8-10.

Satellite offices at Rock Hall Museum, located at 199 Broadway in Lawrence, and Levittown Hall, located at 201 Levittown Parkway in Hicksville, will be open to receive checks and money orders for tax payments from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on August 4-5 and 8-10.

Residents who would like to pay via credit card or e-check may log onto the town's website at www.TOH.LI and follow the "Receiver of Taxes" link to "Online Tax Payments," or call Official Payments Corporation at 1-877-306-6056. A 2.5 % convenience fee payable to Official Payments Corporation, the company that processes the credit card transaction, will be incurred for credit card payments, while a flat fee of $2.00 will be charged per each e-check transaction.

The Mobile Tax Office is scheduled to visit the following locations from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.:

• Monday, Aug. 1 - Merrick Senior Center, 2550 Clubhouse Rd., Merrick
• Tuesday, Aug. 2 - Town Parking Lot O-3, Davison Ave., Oceanside (directly across from Oceanside Library)
• Thursday, Aug. 4 - Elmont Memorial Library, 700 Hempstead Turnpike, Elmont
• Friday, Aug. 5 - Franklin Square Senior Center, 1182 Martha Pl., Franklin Square

For further information visit the town's website at www.TOH.LI or contact the Office of Receiver of Taxes at (516) 538-1500.

'Solar Trackers' Unveiled

Hempstead Town officials and a host of green energy partners unveiled two large high-tech solar energy panels called solar trackers at the Town of Hempstead Department of Conservations and Waterways in Point Lookout on Monday.

The trackers continually adjust themselves or pivot throughout the day to directly face the sun in order to maximize the energy derived from the closest star to our planet. The panels are said to increase energy output by up to 50 percent over conventional stationary photovoltaic panels.